We take up today another of
the series of letters on occult meditation, that dealing with "Future
Schools of Meditation". In this letter I shall attempt somewhat to show
how the training and development indicated in the other letters will be applied
and I shall deal somewhat with prophecy, pointing out what will some day be
possible and present, and not what is as yet in any way approachable. Always
it is necessary to have high ideals, and ever the human mind leaps forward to
some appointed goal. If I here outline what may seem a visionary impossibility
it is but that I seek to hold up such an ideal, and to give to the race an
objective well worth their highest endeavour.

Preliminary remarks.

Let us pause a moment and lay
down certain postulates anent the present that will (so to speak) clear the
ground for future action.

The value of meditation is
becoming everywhere admitted. Schools for concentration and methods of mental
development are commonly advertised in the daily papers.

True meditation is as yet
little understood. Concentration is but the foundation upon which the future
work is to be based.

As yet the future structure
cannot be raised, due to two causes primarily:—

[298]

a. The inherent inability of
mind at this juncture to attain the causal level and the consciousness of the
causal level.

b. The absence of a Master in
personal presence, able and equipped to teach the true scientific development
which is the aim of true meditation.

The troubled condition of the
world at present is sufficient barrier to any general acceptation of training,
and of the scientific development of the vehicles.

These premises are laid down
here as a starting point. That some individuals here and there achieve the
goal, that some people do master the system of Occult Meditation and make the
desired progress is undeniable, but they are only few in number and those
numbers are inappreciable when set against the vast bulk of human beings in
incarnation at the same time. They achieve by right of age-long effort, and
because in previous lives they trod the Path or neared the portal of
initiation. But even the average man of intelligence of today—the product, for
instance, of western civilisation—is far from being ready for occult training.
Experiments are being made now, unknown oft to the subjects themselves, to see
how quickly a man may be pushed through experience and a general hastening of
the evolutionary process into a position where it will be safe to train him
further. People in many civilised countries are under supervision, and a
method of stimulation and intensification is being applied which will bring to
the knowledge of the Great Ones Themselves a mass of information that may serve
as a guide to Their future efforts for the race. Especially are people in
America, Australia, India, Russia, Scotland and Greece being dealt with. A few
in Belgium, Sweden, and Austria are likewise under observation, and should the
response [299] be as hoped they will form a nucleus for further
expansion.

Future Schools of Meditation

In handling this matter we
might, as is our usual custom, divide the subject matter under different
heads:—

1. The one fundamental
School.

2. Its national subdivisions.

3. The location, personnel,
and buildings of the School.

4. The grades and classes.

Now I would emphatically
point out to you the fact that all that I now impart is a portion of a
tentative plan, which has in view the hastening of the evolution of the higher
mind, and the bringing under control of the bodies of men, through the power of
the God within. This plan has been drawn up in view of the crying need of a
world in which the mental equipment of men is increasing out of all proportion to
their emotional balance and to their physical equipment. The rapid advance of
knowledge, the spreading of the educational system which brings the product of
many minds into the environment of the very poor, the ability of all to read
and write in such a country as America or among the other Anglo-Saxon races,
has been the cause of a very real (I might almost say an unexpected) problem
arising to confront the Great Ones.

Mental development when
paralleled by emotional stability and a strong healthy body is the aim for
all. But now you have mental development paralleled by an unstable astral and
a weak, underfed, badly raised physical. Hence disorder, lack of balance, the
clouding of the vision and disproportionate discussion. Lower mind, instead of
being a means to an end and a weapon for use, is in fair [300] way of being a ruler and a tyrant, preventing the play
of the intuition and shutting out the abstract mind.

Hence the Masters, if it can
in any way be accomplished, purpose a movement that has in view the harnessing
of the lower mind through the instrumentality of the people themselves. With
this object in view They plan to utilise the incoming Ray of Ceremonial Law or
Organisation, and the period immediately co-incident or following the coming of
the Great Lord, to start these schools (in a small inconspicuous way at first)
and bring to the consciousness of men everywhere the following four
fundamentals:—

a. The evolutionary history
of man from the mental side.

b. The septenary constitution
of the macrocosm and the microcosm.

c. The laws governing man's
being.

d. The method of occult
development.

A beginning has already been
made........through the various schools at present extant.......All these are
the beginnings of the plan. When they are firmly grounded, when they are
working smoothly and with public recognition, and when the world of men is
being somewhat coloured by them and their subjective emphasis, when they
are producing scholars and workers, politicians and scientists and educational
leaders who make their impress on their environment, then mayhap will come the
time for the founding in exoteric fashion of the true occult school. By that I
mean that if the earlier schools and colleges do their work satisfactorily they
will have demonstrated to the world of men that the subjective is the true
reality and that the lower is but the stepping stone to the higher. This
subjective reality being universally admitted will, therefore, permit of the
founding of a chain of inner schools [301] ...that
will be publicly recognised. This will never at any time obviate the necessity
for always having an esoteric and secret section, for always there will be certain
truths and facts of dangerous import to the uninitiated; but what I seek to
point out is that the mysteries will eventually be admitted as facts for
universal recognition and for universal aim and goal. They will be prepared
for and entered from schools that definitely undertake, under expert guidance,
to train novitiates for the mysteries.

Such schools have existed
before and in the turning of the wheel again they will be in manifestation.

You ask, when? That depends
on humanity itself and on all of you who work with faith and aspiration at the
beginnings of the plan.

H. P. B. laid the foundation
stone of the first school in this particular lesser cycle (which is
nevertheless a relatively important one, being an outgrowth of the fifth
root-race, the efflorescence of the fifth principle). This is the keystone.
The work proceeds in the founding, as aforesaid, of the various schools, and
mental science also has its place. It will go forward as desired if each one
who is now under occult training strains every nerve and bends every effort to
the work in hand. If all that is possible is done, when the Great Lord comes
with His Masters the work will receive a still further impetus, and will gradually
expand and grow till it becomes a power in the world. Then will come the day
of the occult schools that will definitely train men for initiation.

September 27th, 1920.

We must today take up our
first point for it is only as we lay the foundation aright that the
superstructure measures up to requirements.

[302]

1. The one fundamental School.

It is therefore very
essential that the emphasis is laid on the fact that no matter what the
offshoots, the basic school of occultism is that one which has its root in the
sacred centre of the planet, Shamballa. At that place, directly under
the eyes of the One Initiator Himself, Who is—as is seldom realised—the highest
expression of the Teaching Ray upon the earth, is found what might be termed
the central office for the educational disciplinary training work of the
Hierarchy. There will be found the Chohan Who is directly responsible for the
various endeavours, and to Whom the Masters Who take pupils, and the Heads of
the various occult schools are directly responsible. All proceeds under law
and order.

One point that it will here
be necessary to emphasise is that the Brotherhood of Light, as represented by
the Himalayan Masters, has its other representatives elsewhere who all carry out
specific work under proper and adequate supervision. Too apt are the
Theosophists to think that they alone are the repositories of the wisdom
religion. Not so is the fact. At this particular moment (with the aim in view
of the development and tendering of opportunity to the fifth subrace) the
Himalayan Brotherhood is the main channel of effort, power and light. But the
work with other races proceeds simultaneously and numerous other projects, all
emanating from the central office at Shamballa, are paralleling the
Himalayan work. Get this clearly in mind, for the point is important. The
Himalayan School and Lodge is the one that principally concerns the Occident
and the only school without any exception that should control the work
and output of the occult students in the West. It brooks no rival nor
contemporary work with its pupils, not for the [303] sake of its own teachers but to ensure the safety of
its pupils. Danger lurks in the path of the occult student and the Himalayan
adepts know adequately how to protect their pupils, provided those pupils stay
within the periphery of Their united auras, and wander not out to other
schools. All true occult schools demand this of their pupils, and all true
Masters expect Their pupils to refrain from taking other occult instructions at
the same time as they are receiving it from Them. They say not: "Our
method is the only right and true method." They say: "When
receiving instructions from Us it is the part of wisdom and the line of safety
to refrain from occult training in another school or under another
Master." Should a pupil desire so to do he is perfectly free to seek out
other schools and teachers, but he must first break his connection with the
old.

The one fundamental school
may be recognised by certain outstanding characteristics:—

By the basic character of the
truths taught as embodied in the following postulates:—

a. The unity of all life.

b. The graded steps of
development as recognised in man, and by the graded steps of its curriculum,
which lead a man from one expansion of consciousness to another until he has
reached that which we call perfection.

c. The relationship between
the microcosm and the macrocosm and its sevenfold application.

d. The method of this
development and the place of the microcosm within the macrocosm as revealed
through the study of the periodicity of all manifestation and the basic law of
cause and effect.

By the emphasis laid on
character building and spiritual development as a foundation for the
development of [304]
all the faculties inherent in the
microcosm. By the requirement, demanded of all affiliated pupils without
exception, that the life of inner unfoldment and development should be
paralleled by a life of exoteric service.

By the graded expansions of
consciousness that are the result of the imparted training; these lead a man on
from step to step till he contacts his higher self, his Master, his egoic
group, the First Initiator, the One Paramount Initiator, until he has contacted
the Lord of his Ray and has entered into the bosom of his "Father Which is
in Heaven".

These are the outstanding
features that are descriptive of the one true fundamental School.

This fundamental school has
three main branches and a fourth that is in process of forming and which will
make the four branches of this fourth round. These branches are as follows:—

1. The trans-Himalayan
Branch.

2. The southern India
Branch. (these are Aryan Branches)

3. A Branch that works with
the fourth root-race and has two fourth root-race adepts at its head.

4. A Branch in process of
forming that will have its headquarters in the Occident at some place not yet
disclosed. It has for its main object the instructing of those connected with
the coming sixth root-race.

These branches are and will
be closely inter-allied and will work in the closest co-operation, being all
focused and under the control of the Chohan at Shamballa. The heads of
each of the four branches communicate with each other frequently and are really
like the faculty of one stupendous university, the four schools being like the [305] various major departments of the foundations—like
subsidiary colleges. The aim of all is the evolution of the race, the object
of all is to lead all to the point of standing before the One Initiator, the
methods employed are fundamentally the same, though varying in detail, due to
the racial characteristics of the races and types dealt with, and the fact that
certain schools work paramountly with one ray and others with another.

The trans-Himalayan school
has its adepts as known to you, and others Whose Names are not known.

The southern Indian school
has special work with the deva evolution, and with the second and third
sub-races of the Aryan race.

The Himalayan school works
with the first, fourth and fifth sub-races.

The fourth root-race branch
works under the Manu of that race and his brother of the Teaching Ray. Their
headquarters are in China.

The Master R.— and one of the
English Masters are concerning Themselves with the gradual founding of the
fourth branch of the school, with the assistance of the Master Hilarion.
Ponder on these imparted facts, for the significance is of profound importance.

Tomorrow we will deal with
the future. Today I have but imparted facts in present manifestation.

September 28th, 1920.

Today our second point comes
up for consideration, and we shall in the elucidation of it enter into the
realms of prophecy. I would here point out to you that the thing which is
indicated as existing in the future may not always work out in detail as
foreseen. I but seek to lay before you the big general plan in its outline.
The working out in the future will depend upon the intuition or high [306] perception of the thinkers of the race and upon the
ability of the incarnating jivas to seize upon the opportunities and fulfil
their destiny.

We touched yesterday upon the
one fundamental school with its four branches. Today I would take up:—

2. The National subdivisions of the one school.

At the outset I would point
out to you that not every nation in the world will have its occult school.
Only as the causal body of the national group has reached a certain rate of
vibration will it be possible to found and institute these schools. Only as
the educational work of the nation has reached a certain height will it be
possible to use the mental equipment of the nation as a stepping stone for
further expansion, and to use it as a basis for the occult school. And,
curiously enough, only those nations which originally had a training school for
the mysteries (with three exceptions) will be again, during the earlier stages,
permitted national schools. The exceptions are:—

1. Great Britain.

2. Canada and the United
States.

3. Australia.

And even these exceptions
might be considered only one, the case of Australia, for the other two in
Atlantean days had their occult foundations when they formed part of the
earlier continent. In the turning of the wheel, earth itself reincarnates;
places pass into pralaya and emerge into manifestation, holding within them the
seeds that will eventuate in similar vibration, and bring into being again
similar modes of expression, and similar forms.

It will be found later on,
when the Occult Schools are founded, that they will be situated where some of
the old magnetism yet lingers, and where in some cases certain [307] old talismans have been kept by the Brotherhood with
just this aim in view.

Branches, affiliated with one
of the four central divisions of the one occult foundation, will be found in
the following countries:

1. Egypt. This will
be one of the later schools founded and will be profoundly occult and an
advanced school in direct communication with the inner grades. This will be
touched upon later.

2. The United States
will have a preparatory school somewhere in the southern part of the Middle
West, and an extensive occult college in California in a place later to be
revealed. This school will be one of the first started when the Great Lord
begins His earthly career, and during the next five years the seeds of it may
be laid if students rightly apprehend the work to be done.

3. There will be one school
for the Latin countries, probably in Italy or Southern France, but much
depends on the political and educational work of the next ten years.

4. Great Britain. At
one of the magnetised spots in either Scotland or Wales, a branch for occult
training will be begun before so very long, which will lay the foundation and
embrace the curriculum for the earlier grades. After it has been in existence
for a few years and has proved the effectiveness of its training, and after
troubled Ireland has adjusted her internal problems, a school for the more
advanced grades, and for definite preparation for the mysteries will be started
in Ireland at one of the magnetised spots there to be found. This school will
be very definitely a school where preparation for a major initiation may be
taken, and will be under the eye of the Bodhisattva, preparing the pupil for
initiation upon the second ray. The first school in Egypt will be for
those who take initiation on the first ray in the Occident.

[308]

Those who take initiation on
the line of the Mahachohan, or on the third ray, will take it at the advanced
occult school in Italy. In this way the Occident will have its centre
where active instruction may be given according to the three lines of approach,
and which will give preparation in the inner mysteries.

5. A preparatory occult
school will be found, too, in Sweden, for those of the northern and
German races who seek the Path, and when it has been extant for some time Russia
may then be in a position to house the headquarters for the more advanced
school affiliated to the preparatory one in Sweden. In connection with the
Egyptian advanced school will be a preparatory one in Greece or in Syria.

You have, therefore, the
following schools as planned, and must bear in mind that the schools wherein
the preparatory work and earlier grades are found will be first in order of
time, and are in process of founding now, or will be founded during the period
immediately preceding the Coming of the Great Lord. The founding of others
will be definitely the outcome of His work, and that of His Masters, and will
depend upon Their decision as to the success of the earlier endeavour.

There is also planned a
preparatory school for the advanced egos of the fourth root-race. This will be
under the Manu of that race and will be situated in Japan, with its most
esoteric branch in western China. This makes the seventh in the group
of schools outlined.

It is not purposed as yet to
have branches in Southern Africa or Southern America. Their day is not yet,
but comes in the next cycle.

Now, I would earnestly call
to your attention that the schools will make but small beginnings and will be
launched in a way that will appear at first as too unimportant to be
noticeable. A beginning will be made with members of the different occult
schools, such as the esoteric sections of the Theosophical movement, and
others. The work in Britain, America and Australia is already in process of
inception, whilst that in Sweden will shortly be on foot. The others will
follow at slightly later dates.

This much of the plan has
been permitted publication as an incentive to all of you to study with greater
aspiration and to work with more strenuous application. Each and all has his
place in the plan would he but qualify by doing the necessary work. That work
should be:—

An endeavour to recognise the
Divine within each one. In this manner the true occult obedience, which is an
essential in all occult training, will be fostered and developed, being not
based, as is so oft seen, on personality, but on that instinctive realisation
of a Master, and the willing following that comes from the recognition of His
powers, the purity of His life and aims, and the profundity of His knowledge.

An endeavour to think in group
terms and clearly for oneself, not depending upon the word of others for
clarification.

[310]

An endeavour to purify and
refine all the bodies and make them more reliable servants.

An endeavour to equip
throughout the mental vehicle and to store within it the facts upon which
extended knowledge may be based.

If these things are done
great will be the day of opportunity.

October 2nd, 1920.

In the rigid disciplining of
yourself comes eventual perfection. To the disciple nought is too small to
undertake, for in the rigid adjustment of the details of the lower world life
comes, at the end, attainment of the goal. The life of the disciple becomes
not easier as the Gate is neared, but ever the watch must be more thorough,
ever right action must be taken with no regard to result, and ever each body in
all its aggregate of detail must be wrestled with and subjugated. Only in the
thorough comprehension of the axiom "Know thyself" will come that
understanding that enables man to wield the law and know the inner working of
the system from the centre to the periphery. Struggle, strive, discipline, and
rejoicingly serve with no reward save the misunderstanding and the abuse of
those who follow after—this is the role of the disciple.

Today we will deal with our
third point.

3. The Location, personnel, and building of the occult school.

Here at the outset I would
remind you that much which might be said by me on this matter must remain
unsaid for lack of the ability to comprehend. I might lay down certain
approximate rules, and make certain fundamental suggestions that may find their
place in the [311]
final working out. I can lay down no
rule that must be kept. Such is not the occult law. In the
establishment of these occult schools in their two divisions, preparatory and
advanced, in the different designated centres under one of the four branches of
the one fundamental School of Occultism, the work will begin in an
inconspicuous manner, and those pupils and advanced egos whose work it is to
make the necessary beginning must find out for themselves the method, place and
manner. All must be wrought out in the furnace of endeavour and experiment,
and the price paid will be high, but only that which is thus wrought out
provides the residue or nucleus upon which the further work may be based.
Mistakes matter not; nought but the fleeting personalities suffer. What does
matter is lack of aspiration, inability to attempt, and incapacity to learn the
lesson that failure teaches. When failures are regarded as valuable lessons,
when a mistake is deemed but a warning signal that averts from disaster, and
when no time is ever lost by a disciple in vain despair and useless self
depreciation, then the watching Teachers of the race know that the work the Ego
seeks to do through each expression on the lower plane goes forward as desired,
and that success must inevitably eventuate. We will here take each detail of
our subject, as enumerated above, by itself.

The Location. This is a matter of very real importance but
differs according to the need of finding a situation whereon to found a preparatory
or an advanced school. Generally speaking (for national requirements vary
much), the school for the preparatory work will be situated within reasonable
distance of some big centre or city, whilst the school for the advanced grades
will be more isolated, and not so easily accessible.

Let us look into this for a
moment. One of the fundamental things that the novitiate has to learn is to
find his [312] centre within himself, independent of surrounding
circumstances, and preferably in spite of surrounding circumstances. The
centre must be found to a considerable degree before he can pass on to
the more advanced grades and work in the second school. The preparatory school
above all things concentrates on the development of the threefold lower man, and
his training in service. The advanced school definitely prepares for
Initiation, and is concerned with occult lore, with the impartation of cosmic
truth, with the abstract development of the pupil, and with work on causal
levels. One can be best accomplished in the world of men and through contact
with the world; the other demands necessarily an environment of comparative
seclusion and freedom from interruption. We might express it thus:—the
preparatory grades deal with the kingdom of God within, whilst the advanced
school expands that training into one which includes the kingdom of God
without. Therefore the first will be situated amongst the working sons of men,
so that by his reactions and interactions in association with them, in service
and struggle, the pupil may learn to know himself. The other will be for those
who have somewhat mastered these things, and are ready to learn more of other
evolutions and of the cosmos. Until a man is master of himself to a
considerable degree he may not safely work, for instance, with the deva or
angel evolution. In the preparatory school he learns this mastery; in the more
advanced school he can thus be trusted to make other contacts than the human.
In both these schools, the basic instruction is meditation in all its grades.
Why? Because in occult schools information, clear instructions, or a
conglomerate of facts are never given, nor are the exoteric textbook methods
ever employed. The whole aim is only to put the student in the way of finding
out for himself the needed knowledge. [313] How?
By developing the intuition through meditation, and by the attainment of that
measure of mental control that will permit the wisdom of the Triad to pour down
into the physical brain, via the causal. Therefore, in the preparatory school
emphasis will he laid on the meditation that concerns the mind, and the
teaching embodied in this book will be applied. This necessitates an
environment wherein many and varied human contacts will he made, and where the
concrete knowledge of the world of men will be easily available (music,
libraries, and lectures), for in the preparation of true occult training the
astral and mental equipping of the student will be one of the first
considerations. When this has been somewhat accomplished, and when the
clairvoyant head of the school sees that the rounding out of the lower auric
egg approaches the desired point, then the pupil will pass into the more
advanced school, and will be taught how from his stable centre to contact the
cosmic centre, and from the point within himself to expand his consciousness
till it touches the periphery of the system macrocosmic, and embraces all that
lives—lives in an occult sense. This necessitates, during the period of
training, comparative seclusion, and this the advanced school will provide.
Therefore the preparatory school will be located near some large city,
preferably near the sea or some large expanse of water, but never within the
city; it will be on the confines of the centres of learning within the city and
will be readily accessible. The advanced school will be far from the crowded
places of the earth and preferably in a mountainous region, for the mountains
have a direct effect on the occultist and impart to him that quality of
strength and steadfastness that is their predominant characteristic and must be
that too of the occultist. The sea or expanse of water close to a preparatory
school will convey to his [314] mind a constant
reminder of the purification which is his paramount work, whilst the mountains
will imbue the advanced student with cosmic strength and will hold steadily
before him the thought of the Mount of Initiation which he aims soon to tread.

Tomorrow we will take the
important factor of the personnel and faculty of the school and the types of
building.

October 7th, 1920.

We deal today with that
portion of our third point in the letter on "Future Schools of
Meditation," which deals with the Personnel of the School.

This term includes both those
who supervise and those who are under supervision, and the subject is
necessarily large. As said in the earlier parts of this letter, the schools
will be in two divisions wherever situated:—

a. A preparatory school for
the earlier grades in occult instruction, and situated preferably near some
large expanse of water and near some central city.

b. An advanced school for the
later grades, which will definitely prepare the way for initiation, and train
pupils in occult lore.

As you will consequently see,
the personnel of both schools will necessarily differ, as will the curriculum.
We will deal with each type of school separately, and lay down certain
fundamentals which must be looked for in instructors and instructed.

The Preparatory Occult
School. This—to the outer world—may
appear not so different from an ordinary college. The differences will not be
recognisable at first to the man of the world, though the differences will be
there, and will demonstrate themselves in the school work, to the pupils, and
on the inner planes. The fundamentals as regards the instructors are as
follows:—

[315]

The Head of the school will
be an accepted disciple; it is essential that the Master, Who is back of the
work of any particular school, should be able at all times to tap the
consciousness of that school as focussed through the disciple. This Head will
be able to act as a medium of communication between the students and the Master
and as a focal point for His force to flow through to them. He must be
consciously able to function on the astral plane at night and to bring the
knowledge through to the physical brain, for part of his work will be with
students on the astral plane, guiding them to the Master's ashram at certain
intervals for specialized work. He will have to train them too in this
conscious functioning.

Under him will work six
instructors, of whom one at least must be a conscious clairvoyant, and able to
assist the Head with his information as to the auric development of the
students; he must be able to gauge the colors and expansion of the students'
vehicles, and co-operate with the Head in the work of expanding and attuning
those vehicles. These instructors must be on the Probationary Path and
earnestly devoted to the work of assisting evolution and devoted to the service
of some one Master. They must and will be carefully chosen so as to supplement
and complement each other, and in the school will form a miniature hierarchy,
showing on the physical plane a tiny replica of the occult prototype. As their
work will be largely to develop the lower mind of the pupil and to link it up
with the higher consciousness, and as the focal point of their endeavour will
be the rapid building-in the causal body, they will be men of erudition, and of
knowledge, grounded in the knowledge of the Hall of Learning, and able to teach
and to compete with the trained teachers of the world universities.

[316]

In every college the work of
these trained seven men will be aided by that of three women chosen for their
capacity to teach, for their intuitive development and for the spiritual and
devotional touch they will bring to the lives of the students. To these ten
teachers will be entrusted the work of grounding the students in the important
essentials, in superintending the acquirement of the rudiments of occult lore
and science, and their development in the higher psychism. These ten must be
profound students of meditation, and able to superintend and teach the pupils
the rudiment of occult meditation, as taught, for instance, in this book.
Occult facts will be imparted to these pupils by them and the basic laws
that—in the advanced school—will be the subject of definite practice by the
would-be initiate. Exercises in telepathy, causal communication, reminiscence
of work undertaken during the hours of sleep, and the recovering of the memory
of past lives, through certain mental processes, will be taught by
them,—themselves proficient in these arts.

As you will see here, all
these teachers will be devoted to the definite training and inner development
of the threefold man.

Under these will work various
other teachers, who will superintend other departments of the pupils' lives.
Exoteric science will be taught and practised by proficient teachers, and the
lower mind will be developed as much as possible, and kept in check by the
other ten teachers who watch over the proportional development, and the
aptitude for correct meditation of the student.

Along with all this will be
the life of world-service, rigidly demanded of each and every pupil. This life
of service will be carefully watched and recorded. One thing to be noted here
is that in this there will be no compulsion. The pupil will know what is
expected of him and what he [317] must do if he is
to pass on to the more advanced schools, and the school's charts (recording the
condition of his vehicles, and his progress and his capacity to serve) will all
be available for his personal inspection, though to no one else. He will know
clearly where he stands, what he must do and what remains to be done, and it
rests then with him to aid the work by the closest co-operation. A certain
amount of care will be taken in the admittance of pupils to the school, and
this will obviate the necessity of later removal for inability or lack of
interest, but this I will deal with later, when taking up the grades and
classes.

You have, therefore, ten
superintending teachers, composed of seven men and three women, including a
Head who is an accepted disciple. Under them will work a set of instructors
who will deal largely with the lower mind and in the emotional, physical and
mental equipping of the pupil, and his passing into the advanced school in a
condition to profit by the instructions there to be imparted. Here I would
point out that I have planned out the ideal, and pictured for you the school as
it is hoped it will eventually be. But as in all occult development, the
beginning will be small and of little apparent importance. Tomorrow we will
take up the rules governing the admission of students and the personnel of the
more advanced school.

October 16th, 1920.

......Today we will take up:—

The personnel of the advanced
school, and the rules of admission to both the preparatory and advanced. This
latter part will be largely technical.

The first point I seek to
make here is that these advanced schools will be numerically small, and this
for a very long time to come, and the personnel will be correspondingly [318] small....At the head of the school will always be
found an Initiate of the first or second degree, the aim of the school being to
prepare pupils for the first initiation. This necessarily requires an Initiate
head. This Initiate head will be definitely appointed by the Master Who has
the school in charge, and he will be—within the confines of the school—sole
judge and autocrat. The risks of occult training are too great to permit of
trifling, and what the Head demands must be obeyed. But this obedience
will not be compulsory but voluntary, for each pupil will realise the necessity
and will render obedience from spiritual recognition. As aforesaid, these
different occult schools will be practically ray schools, and will have
for their personnel teachers on some one ray or its complementary ray, with
pupils on the same ray or complementary ray. For instance, if the school is a
second ray school—such as the one in Ireland is purposed to be—teachers and
pupils on the second, fourth and sixth rays will be found in it. At least one
fifth ray teacher will be found in every school of occultism. If a first ray
school, the personnel and pupils will be first, third and seventh ray, with
again a fifth ray teacher among the others.

Under the initiate Head will
be two other teachers who will be accepted disciples, and every pupil under
them must have passed through the preparatory school, and graduated from all
the lower grades. Probably these three will comprise the entire teaching staff,
for the pupils under them will he relatively few in number and the work of the
teachers is supervisory more than didactic, for the occultist is always esoterically
self-taught.

Much of the work done by
these three will he on the inner planes, and they will work more in the
seclusion of their own rooms than in class room with the students [319] themselves. The pupils are—it will be presumed—ready
to work for themselves and to find the way to the portal of initiation alone.
The work of the teachers will be advisory, and they will be available to answer
questions and to superintend work initiated by the pupil himself, and
not compelled by the teacher. Stimulating vibration, aligning the bodies,
superintending the work on inner planes, and the pouring in of force with the
shielding from danger by occult methods, will be the work, in part, of the
Teachers, added to the supervision of definite and strenuous meditation. At
intervals they will conduct the pupils to the Master, advise as to their passing
into the different grades of discipleship, report at intervals on the quality
of their life service and assist them in building their buddhic vehicle, which
has to be in an embryonic condition when the First initiation is taken. The
teachers likewise superintend the working out in practice of the theories anent
the other evolution, the deva evolution, laid down in the preparatory schools;
they watch over the manipulation of matter by the pupil and his demonstration
of the laws of construction; they safeguard him as far as may be in his contact
with sub-human and super-human evolutions, and teach him to wield the law and
to transcend karma. They enable him, through their instructions, to recover
the knowledge of past lives and to read the akashic records, but as you will
see, the pupil is the one in this school who initiates and does the work,
superintended and guarded by the teachers, and his progress and the length of
his residence within the school depend upon his own effort and initiatory
powers.

The rules of admission into
the preparatory school will be somewhat as follows, but I only indicate
probabilities and not ascertained and fixed facts:—

[320]

1. The pupil must be free
from obligatory karma and able to take the course without neglecting his other
duties and family ties.

2. There will be no fees or
money charged, and no money transaction. The pupil must be somewhat
self-supporting and able to earn the means of livelihood whilst in the school.
The schools in both their divisions will be supported through the voluntary
contributions of people, and through a knowledge of the laws of supply and
demand occultly interpreted.

3. The pupil must be able to
measure up to the average educational standards of his day and generation and
must show aptitude for some line of thought.

4. He must be seen
clairvoyantly to have a certain amount of co-ordination and alignment and the
causal body must be of a certain grade or quality before he is admitted.
Teachers of occultism waste not time on those not ready. Only when the inner
light shines forth, only when the causal body is of a certain capacity can the
pupil profit by the curriculum. Therefore, with the Head of the school will
the final verdict lie as to whether a pupil may enter or not. That word will
be final, and will be passed after due inspection of the pupil by the Head of
the school through clairvoyant and causal vision, and after reference to the
man's own Master.

5. He must have demonstrated,
by a previous period of service, his ability to work in group formation and to
think in terms of others.

[321]

6. His past incarnations must
he somewhat looked up, and the indications given through their study will guide
the Head in his final decision.

7. The pupil must be over twenty-one and under forty-two years of
age.

8. His etheric body must be
in good condition and be a good transmitter of prana, and there must be no
physical disease or handicapping physical deformity.

These are the fundamental
rules which it is at present possible to give. There will be others and the
problem of selection may pass through some vicissitudes in solving.

The rules for admission into
the advanced school are far more esoteric and fewer in number. The pupils will
be chosen from out of the preparatory school, after having passed through the
graded courses. But selection will depend not on the mental development and
the assimilation of concrete knowledge, but upon the inner comprehension and
the occult understanding of the student, upon the quality of the tone of
his life as it sounds forth in the inner world, upon the brilliance of the
indwelling light, and upon his power in service.

This suffices for today;
tomorrow we will deal with the final division of this third point, the
buildings of the school.

October 17th, 1920.

In dealing today with the
subject of the buildings of the two types of occult schools, little can be said
and only a general outline can be given. Climatic conditions and the desired
size of the schools will greatly vary and the consequent plant will vary
likewise......

The buildings for the
preparatory school will differ not so much from those of an ordinary college in
the exoteric [322]
world. One rule only will be laid
down—each student must of necessity have his own separated chamber. The type
of building matters not, provided these conditions are fulfilled. Each room
must be non-communicating, save with the central corridor, and must be in three
divisions, necessarily small yet distinct. One division will be given up to the
student's life and study; another to the bath and the third will be the place
for meditation containing the pictures of the Great Ones duly curtained. This
third division is kept for the sole purpose of meditation and will contain
little save the mat on which the student sits, a couch on which he will repose
his physical vehicle during certain stated exercises and a small stool in front
of the Master's pictures, on which will be found the incensor and a vase for
floral tributes.

The resident teachers will
reside with the students, the women taking charge of the women students, and
the men residing with the male students. The Head of the school will reside
alone in a detached house which will contain—besides the rooms in which he will
live his private life—a reception room of small proportions for his work with
individuals, and a larger room for joint concourses, besides a shrine room for
the meeting of the united body of pupils.

The buildings for the
advanced schools, even though they concern us not intimately as yet, provide in
their construction much of occult significance for those who have eyes to see.
The main feature in the occult advanced school will be the central temple of
circular shape providing for each of the pupils (and you must remember that
numerically they will not be large), a private shrine entered from the rear by
a closed door and having a curtain between it and the large central shrine
where the group meetings will be held.

[323]

This large central shrine
will have a pavement whereon will be traced the triangle, and within the
triangle the group will sit, the three spaces outside the triangle having
tables whereon will be found various symbols and a few of the fundamental books
on symbols and some large parchments whereon the cosmic symbols will be
portrayed.

[See DIAGRAM]

The colour of this shrine
will be dependent on the ray which it represents. The curtains which separate
will be in the ray colour also and each individual shrine curtain will carry
the sign of the pupil's nativity—his sign, rising sign, and controlling
planets. These curtains will be the [324] property
of the pupil, as will the mat within the shrine which will carry the symbol of
his ray, egoic and personality.

On the wall of the great
circular passage will be found the signs of the zodiac, the four entrances
standing for the four Maharajas.

A square wall will surround
the whole, enclosing a garden which will be the care of the pupils themselves.
There will be but one entrance through this wall on the north side. Outside
will lie small building's to house not more than three pupils, and a house
wherein will reside the three instructors. The Initiate Head will likewise
have his private residence distinguished by a domed tower at one side. This domed
tower serves two purposes:—It is the place for astronomical and astrological
instruction and will have the latest appliances of science for the study of the
planets and of microcosmic life, and will also serve as a secure shelter for
those pupils who can consciously leave their physical bodies and function
elsewhere on the physical plane.

This is all I can give as
yet. Record, watch and await the hour when the ideal will materialize.

October 29th, 1920.

Our fourth point comes up for
consideration today, and in its discussion I will give you somewhat concerning
the preparatory occult school but little concerning the advanced. This fourth
point is one anent the grades and classes.